


Ghost Shift

by Aithilin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Drabble, Gen, No Romance, Pre-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: Nyx and Cor both tended to work late for different reasons.
Relationships: Cor Leonis & Nyx Ulric
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Ghost Shift

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted over at my Tumblr

Glaives were meant to be neither seen nor heard unless there was a reason for either. Unlike the Crownsguard, there was rarely a show of force among the Glaives in the setting of the shining Crown City; when they were assigned to the mundane duties usually attended by the Guard, there were left alone despite the difference in uniforms— quiet statues that seemed unmoving in the shadows of the Citadel— to man their posts. Most of the assignments in the same fashion were meant as a form of punishment— boring, idle work that was initially intended to remind the more unruly or insubordinate Glaive of the peace they were protecting within the Wall— but Nyx preferred these quiet moments. 

He had spent his sort career as a bartender watching the locals come and go. He could spot who was trouble, who wanted to start trouble, and who just needed a few moments to collect themselves while slouched over a bar and a glass. He liked to think the observational skills picked up during that time had paid off when he started training as a Glaive and seemed see the hallowed halls of the Citadel more than most in his squad. 

But it did help when he could pick up on the subtle cues the Citadel residents tended to show whether they meant to or not. 

“You okay, Sir?”

It was asked late in the evening, when the Citadel had already nearly emptied of everyone but the residential staff who would tend to the King and the young Prince. Nyx almost winced at how loud his voice seemed in the halls after the hours of barely any movement through the darkened corridor. 

In actuality, he hadn’t even known the Marshal was still in his office until the man left it. 

“Still of duty, Ulric?” Cor’s voice was softer, more used to the long nights of the Citadel halls. 

“Ghost shift, Sir,” Nyx offered a smile, remaining in the vantage spot of his post. From his junction in the hallway, he could easily see into the little lobby where the elevators emptied, as well as down the long stretch of empty that was the office corridors. In another hour or two he would move to another branch of the same area, or patrol the handful of common spaces he had been given control over. 

“Ghost…? Oh,” there was that little smile Nyx had only glimpsed before. “Noctis’ little name for it stuck?”

“Seems so. At least with the Captain.”

“I’ll have to let him know.”

The Marshal only smiled like that for the Prince— that soft, paternal smile that Nyx had seen appear and vanish within seconds around other people, or stay for hours when the Prince visited the rarely occupied offices Cor had just stepped from. It was an odd enough occurrence to see that smile, never mind the way Cor had actually been making use of the office of his position. “But everything okay? Nothing I should be on the watch for?”

“Not yet, Ulric. At least your haunting won’t be interrupted just yet.”

“Let’s hope not, Sir.”

Nyx liked the Marshal’s matter-of-fact admittance or warnings. If he was feeling candid when their paths crossed, the Marshal tended to at least give him an idea of what to expect when he was returned to the land of the living on the front lines. No warnings, no elaboration as to the work that kept him late in the Citadel, meant that there was little for Nyx to consider pressing. There was little for him to do other than keep watch and stand his post like the grey ghost he appeared to be in the dim halls for the night, patrolling the palace like a protective spectre. 

Cor left him to the quiet, his own footsteps barely making a sound as he moved through the halls on a haunt of his own. Looking after the sleeping royals above in ways that would only ever be relayed by way of reports and statistics once the work and real sacrifice was done.


End file.
